Having been stranded for five weeks in Mallow, Mexican pilot Captain Ruben Ocana and his crew finally take off.
On 18 April 1983, Captain Ruben Ocana flying a Gulfstream II made an emergency landing at Mallow Racecourse when the plane ran short of fuel. The Mexican pilot and his crew remained stranded in Mallow for 39 days until a runway was laid to get the 15-seat jet airborne again.
It was a gala occasion for the town of Mallow.
Chairman of the Mallow Urban Council led the people of the town in bidding farewell to Captain Ruben Ocana who had become a local hero. Even the children of the town got time off school to wave goodbye. The local festival queen presented Ruben Ocana with an honorary title from the Rakes of Mallow Festival.
The runway was built at a cost of almost a quarter of a million pounds. However, the question remains as to what will happen it once the plane has left. The people of the town are unsure about what the racecourse owner will do with the runway but some of the surface area will be turned back to farming.
Ruben Ocana is both happy and sad to be leaving Mallow. On the one hand, it is the end of an extraordinary adventure for the captain and his crew. On the other hand, he is going to miss all the people of Mallow. During his farewell he spoke a few words of Irish to thank the people of Ireland.
After taking off, Captain Ruben Ocana made a circle of the town dropping to about 200 feet above the racecourse before heading west for Shannon Airport and then home to Mexico.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 27 May 1983. The reporter is Tom MacSweeney.
